


The way you leave.

by Biternal_Bicon



Category: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/F, and playing detective a lil bit, rating is only for like one swear word lmao, short fic, this was meant to be a Claire/Karen perspective fic but it turned into only Rick kinda pining???, turned out lighter than i expected but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26247100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biternal_Bicon/pseuds/Biternal_Bicon
Summary: Something was up with Karen.  Rick thinks it has to do with that new farmer.
Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Karen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	The way you leave.

Something was up with Karen.

He noticed that she was a lot more distracted lately, dazed almost ; lost in her own world, smiling to herself. She was humming to herself often - when they’d meet up in the mornings outside the general store, when they’d hang out by the Goddess pond, and especially when she’d stock inventory at work. 

Hell, she even slowed down the rate of her drinking, savouring her wine more. Yep, something was definitely up with her. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint when it had started, but he knew something had changed within his best friend.

What surprised him the most was when he’d seen her stroll into Rose Square, just as he was starting to announce the beginning of the annual Cluck-Cluck Clash. The festival she hadn’t been at in years, since they were practically children. Not many people other than farmers or avid animal fans attended anymore, but nonetheless, Rick gave up hope that she would show up to the festival long ago. She’d described it as barbaric and Rick would have to argue that they weren’t fighting, they were just chasing the other out of the ring. 

“Like that makes a difference. I see enough cock fights at the Inn nightly, I don’t need to go to a festival dedicated to it.” She had once said. They obviously shared different interests, but he always hoped that she would at least attend the times he’d participate, to cheer him on. 

So to see her here left him at a loss. 

The matches rolled out, one by one. He’d always be completely immersed in the chickens, excitedly examining their sheen, grace, beauty. As much as he always looks forward to the chicken centric festival every year, this time he was distracted ; he couldn’t help but notice that Karen’s gaze would keep shifting from the majestic birds, to the farmer who had moved into town only a few months before. Claire.

He couldn’t say that the new addition to Mineral Town hadn’t made a bit of a social splash, she was all what most people talked about for most of Spring. The fascination only came to grow as she attended more festivals and befriended more of the townsfolk. Rick didn’t have any particular feelings about her, one way or the other. She did have beautiful chickens, but of course, they came from his family’s farm so it was needless to say. 

It definitely would add to her popularity now that she’s won her first ever Cluck-Cluck Clash. In only the first year of her farming career. It seemed almost unfair, he was the resident chicken enthusiast and the newbie would be reaping the rewards of his years of hard work dedicated to raising and learning about chickens. He bit back his bitterness and awarded her with the festival trophy through some forced enthusiasm. He didn’t mean to hold any contempt, but he was beginning to become irate with the amount she was shaking up the town.

The crowd that had gathered around Claire to congratulate her, mostly made up of townsfolk, and a lot more than the usual in attendance, began to disperse and Rick could do nothing but bear witness to the way in which his best friend interacted with the new farmer. All big smiles and animated gestures, followed by a long embrace. Even when they broke away, Claire’s hand was enclasped within Karen’s. 

Some things were beginning to piece together within Rick’s mind. How excitedly his friend would talk about the new farmer’s first harvest last season, eyes twinkling with affection and pride. How she would make the trip down to PoPoultry Farm to visit him more often, sometimes mentioning that she had dropped by Mineral Farm to check in on her new friend beforehand. How she’d always be much more touchy with Claire, moreso than anyone else in town, especially given the amount of time they’ve known each other.

He never thought much of it, he always thought of them, Rick and Karen, to be inevitable. He certainly had no interest in anyone else in town, and they’d been best friends forever. Certainly that would translate to romance at some point in the near future. On more than one occasion, he’d be subject to teasing on the closeness of the relationship between them from his family. Rick would shake it off in stride, but he couldn’t deny that deep down, he felt a different fondness cultivating towards the brunette as of late. 

He wondered if he was reading too much into this. For two women, it’d be so easy to misconstrue friendship and something more, wouldn’t it? As he watched the two walk down the path that leads Claire home, with Karen barely spearing him a passing glance, he knew he’d have to ask her about this at some point. 

Rick just didn’t know if he’d want the answer.

**Author's Note:**

> I need more Claire/Karen in my life. So I'm going to be writing things. There might be room for a part 2 of this? Idk. 
> 
> It wasn't even supposed to turn out this way, I do not like Rick. Perhaps I enjoy his suffering? Perhaps there should be more suffering. 
> 
> I just KNOW Rick would be homophobic in canon if Xseed didn't do such a good job with introducing and normalizing the same sex marriages. 
> 
> Anyway this is my first fanfic on AO3, I've always been a fanfiction.net writer but I haven't written fanfics in many years. I saw a serious lack of Claire/Karen, and as I've become obsessed since SOS:FOMT came out, I thought I'd do a little writing again. I've been trying to get out of a writing rut so here's a lil rough fic! Hope you enjoy xo


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